Device for cutting off checks



(No Model.)

6. MOODY.

DEVICE FOR CUTTING OFF CHECKS, DRAFTS, RECEIPTS, &c. No. 303,658.

Patented Aug. 19, 1884.

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CYRUS MASON MOODY, OF GREENFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

DEVICE FOR CUTTING OFF CHECKS, DRAFTS, RECEIPTS, 800.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 303,658, dated August19, 1884.

Application filed June 1, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, CYRUS Mason MOODY, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Greenfield, in the county of Franklin and Commonwealthof Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful device for cutting offchecks, drafts, receipts, and other papers of a similar nature from thestubs to which they are commonly attached, of which the following is aspecification.

Everybody knows that bank checks, drafts, receipts, and other businesspapers are very commonly bound in small books or blocks the width of thepaper and long enough to have at the back end a stub or other blankhaving a memorandum of the check or other paper. Although the line ofseparation between the two connected blanks is sometimes perforated, tobe readily divided, the more common way is to use scissors orapapencutter, always attended with more or less inconvenience.

My invention is cheap, convenient, effective, and always ready for use.It is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view showing thedevice and its application. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the device.

My device consists of a thin strip of metal, as long as the width of theblanks and about an inch in width, of any metal, though for convenienceand neatnessl use brass nickelplated. This strip is foldedlongitudinally twice, the folds being all a little open. The outer foldhas a straight sharply-defined square edge projecting a little beyondthe line of the upper fold, and is intended to rest upon the paper ofone side of the blanks, and against this the one part of the blanks isto be torn ofi.

The device may be reversed upon the block and the cuttingedgelaid alongthe end of the draft, while the body of the cutter rests upon the stub,which will be left under the same when the check or "draft is torn off.The upper fold is bent over within the lower fold, extending back abouthalf-way 'to the turn or edge of the fold, and between each of the foldsalso is a small space, which is for the purpose of drawing in a rubberor elastic band first between the two folds to the back, where the spaceallows the stretched band to pass behind the edge of the inner fold andto be drawn up within it, where itis securely placed between the twofolds and around the outside of the bottom one, and can only be removedby the same process as of entering. The in strument is passed over theopen end of a cheek-book, resting on one of the blanks, the sharp edgetoward the other, and retained in place by the elastic band passingunderneath the book, which,by its elasticity,holds the cutter inposition whether the leaves of the bookare many orfew. One item ofconveniencein this is that as one blank is torn off the cutter remainsin position, always fixing the place where the last check was taken.

I claim- A metallic cutter for paper and analogous upon itself with oneedge exposed and made to form a cutting edge or side, in combinationwith an elastic band secured between the folds of said cutter, as setforth.

materials, formed by folding a strip of metal

